Wednesday 22 October 2014

Australia 2014 - (18) Perth to Monkey Mia

I left Perth on Monday and took the Mitchell Freeway out of town. Now who builds a freeway that runs out in a housing estate? The Aussies, that’s who. After about 50 km it just peters out and leads to an intersection in the middle of a housing estate. I pulled into a petrol station to see where to go next and as my map indicated Wanneroo I turned right. A few left turns later and I got to a big intersection which offer two highways or the Indian Ocean Drive north. I had read something in my “200 Top Rides” book that came with my motorcycle atlas saying the road to Lancelin was gorgeous and in a split second turned onto the Indian Ocean Drive. And what a fortuitous choice that was – this has to be one of the most beautiful roads I’ve travelled in Australia so far. Stunning white sandy beaches at Lancelin, Cervantes and Jurien Bay, interspersed with more pristine dunes and scrub rich with diverse flora and forna.

At Hangover Bay I got off the bike and walked down to the ocean’s edge. I’d been to Cottesloe Beach in Perth the day before which is also on the Indian Ocean but had no sense of achievement there. This time though, it suddenly struck me, I had ridden from one side of Australia to the other – from the Pacific Ocean in Brisbane to the Indian Ocean right here. I’d done approximately 10,000 km in two months on no more than 125 cc. I was thrilled.

I spent the night in Geraldton at what was definitely the most expensive camp site yet – AU$30 for a tent for the night. It was a very nice camp site, I’ll give you that, but 30 bucks, bit of a rip off.

From Geraldton I took a loop off the main North West Coastal Highway to Kalbarri National Park. More breathtaking scenery including another huge pink salt lake at Port Gregory, magnificent cliffs at Eagle Gorge and more amazing flora.

The loop added an additional 200-odd km to my route meaning it was already noon by the time I rejoined the NW Coastal Highway. There was then a huge 130 km section to the turnoff to Shark Bay which took me to 2 pm to complete. It was 38 degrees C at the Billabong Roadhouse, at the turnoff, and the guy there warned me things would only get worse the further north I went but it should be cooler as I got closer to the coast.

I almost decided not to continue, but I wanted to see the dolphins at Monkey Mia in the morning so I kept going. I split it into three section of 50 km each. The first was reasonably easy and fortunately, the second took me to Shell Beach which is made from millions of tiny shells, which lifted my spirits, so the last section to Monkey Mia wasn’t too bad either, getting me in for 6 pm.

I just had time to put my tent up before sunset.

This morning I was up early to see the dolphins swim into the shore – I can't believe I was almost going to quit in Perth and miss this stuff.